Fj40 Stretch (2 Viewers)

[fflood]

I marked some lines and cut the donor roof. Then I sat it on top of the other roof to mark it. I forgot to mention that I cut the rain gutter and attached it in the rear and the front section of the gutter in the front over the doors. This gave me the front lip position of the front roof section and the rear position of the rear of the donor roof. All that was left was to mark the front section and cut to match the two halves. I would have liked to have had been making my cut on the front roof section more in the middle of the roof where there is the highest peak to the roof but I just didn’t have enough roof. I figured I could compensate with a metal stiffener between the two sections possibly. Regardless I only had two caps to work with. I can see how some people might have used three donor roofs; this roof is loooong.

 

[fflood]

As many have noted the roof has a foam core and then is sandwiched with thin fiberglass.

 

[fflood]

I made an aluminum piece that I will end up glassing into place between the roof sections. I just used an x-axto to slice the foam and then carved it out. Gap is here before shoving the two halves together.

 

[fflood]

I’ll have to order fiberglass supplies to finish the cap up but I still need to do rain gutter sections first anyway. I ended the weekend with removing herculiner from the donor doors and paint from the rear ambulance doors. I just need to figure out how I want to make rain gutter sections so I can move forward since I didn’t have enough sections from the donor, unless I can find some sections to use. I’m also keen to start mocking up the b pillars and second set of doors so I can take measurements for splitting the doors and Welding them to fit the door gap. Big stuff ahead!

 

[merbesfield]

Awesome build. This is my dream build. I need a section of front fiberglass roof panel to repair the aftermarket sunroof installed by a PO on my 82 FJ40 so if you have leftovers or know of a roof section please let me know.

 

[fflood]

FJ40 so if you have leftovers or know of a roof section please let me know.
[/QUOTE]

I have a leftover front section. Let me know where you are. You don’t happen to have any upper door sheet metal or door hinges do you?

 

[fflood]

I picked up a 1uz for the build a few weeks ago, it came with an auto trans. The engine will need a new seal but I think it should work well for me. I tore into it to check the condition and all seems well. I’ll have to see if I can find s t-100 transfercase adapter if I decide to use the trans that came with it.

 

[fflood]

I cut the rear passenger door doors and tacked them back together. A stock door is around 34” wide CD and I think the final width on my rear doors will be right around 30.125”. I’ll have to figure out the diagonal cut on the lower corners. It starts to feel real with the big gap closed up with a partial door.

If anyone has any leads on any upper door sheet metal I would be interested as I need some sections to build up this part otherwise I’ll have to make from scratch. I’m also looking for another door hinge.

 

[fflood]

I’ve been making some rain gutter sections from scratch. Probably would have been easier to buy some scrap section but couldn’t find any locally. I also fanned some lower panels beneath the rear doors.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

 

[fflood]

 

[fflood]

I finally got around to working on the passenger door lower corners. I think I got the angle right to match the wheel well angle. I’ll still have to round the lower left corner a bit, but it’s all tacked together. I also took off the right side running board and patched a rotten section there. It was all bindi on top of Swiss cheese. Still need to build the inner door seal at the threshold, but finally feeling like some progress.

 

[fflood]

Spent some time making adjustments to the doors but I need to rebuild the hinges with new bushings before I keep going. The back door needs to come up a bit and the front of the front door needs to come down a bit. Having four doors complicates things. I keep telling myself it will be cool when it’s done. Trying to get everything level and lined up on the passenger side before moving on to the drivers side.

 

[Borrego]

Incredible build! Looking forward to watching progress. What's your intended use? Overland? With all that room, a fold flat rear seat would be cool like an FJ60, so you can sleep in the back.

 

[shwarzwald]

It has been 6 months since the last post. I am pretty excited to see what major or minor progress has been made since. (Even something as minor as fine tuning the adjustments!)

This build has fun to follow and very informative for a later project I have in mind, so thank you in advance for yer unintentional help!

 

[OldRocDoc]

Certainly an interesting project -- very fun build to follow. I do wish you would have used non-orthogonal cuts and sleeves in the frame and non-linear cuts in the roof. Much stronger in my opinion. I am also interested to see how you beef up the suspension to deal with the extra weight. Sure hope you share pics and words of the project through completion.